Curd rice

Swasthi Shreekanth presents Curd Rice, also called Thayir Sadam, as a South Indian rice-and-yogurt dish. This account selects her regular home-style preparation rather than the separate temple-style recipe.

White rice is cooked with its own water and salt, lightly mashed and cooled completely. Supplied yogurt is mixed into that same rice, with selected optional grated carrot, cucumber and chopped coriander.

Oil starts mustard and the selected optional cumin seeds. Broken dried red chili, chana dal, urad dal and ready-roasted cashews join before ginger, green chili and curry leaves; hing follows once the leaves are crisp.

The selected optional water addition softens the lentils slightly while retaining the bite described in the notes. The same tempering is mixed through the yogurt rice, with pomegranate arils as the chosen garnish.

The author describes creamy rice with a flavourful whole-spice tempering and the nutty aroma of the fried lentils. This plain serving keeps the separately described pickle, papad, podi and alternative grain or milk preparations outside its selected ingredient formula.